Organising a Christmas show starts long before the curtain goes up: an artist available on the right date, a venue that suits your capacity, families checked in without a scrum at the door. If just one of these links gives way, the whole afternoon suffers.
Whether you’re planning a children’s Christmas party or a show in a hall, here are the steps to organise a successful Christmas show, from choosing the performers to handing out the presents.
Summary
1. Set out your needs before you choose
Before you contact an artist or a theatre company, list what you already know and what you need:
- Audience: the children’s ages and whether parents will attend. Very young children struggle with long formats.
- Capacity: the number of children, adults and performances.
- Team: one person in charge of each task (artist, venue, registrations, front of house).
- Budget: the artist’s fee, additional costs, sound, the afternoon snack or Christmas meal, and the presents. A provisional budget helps you avoid unpleasant surprises. You don’t need a big production to succeed: a short format, well suited to the children’s age, works better than a long show in an unsuitable venue.
- Date: for the festive season, December weekends get booked up early.
Tip: record all these decisions in a single shared document that the whole team can access.
2. Choose the right show for your audience
The show you choose determines the venue and the budget. To choose your Christmas show, start from the audience’s age, especially for a children’s Christmas party where children make up most of the audience, then adapt it to the venue available. There’s no need to aim for a full house at all costs. A smaller audience that is well looked after leaves a better memory than a large hall that is half empty.
A magic show has the broadest appeal: a magician holds the attention of children and adults alike, and Christmas magic lends itself to interactive routines, with Father Christmas as a guest.
A puppet show suits the youngest children, with short stories and familiar characters, such as animals.
A musical show, whether songs, a musical or a concert for young audiences, gets children singing. Musical shows do, however, need more equipment.
Christmas storytelling relies on listening: storytelling and theatre, like dance and circus, work best with an attentive audience.
For a hall of several hundred people, a large-scale show moves up a level, with sets, lighting and several performers. Walkabout acts, where costumed characters move through the streets, are better suited to an outdoor event.
After the performance, plan the gift-giving: Father Christmas arrives at the end of the show, then stays for photos, something the children will remember!
3. Find suppliers and compare offers
An events agency usually offers a roster of artists and handles the logistics. Depending on the agency, all-inclusive packages cover the show, sound and transport. You can also contact an artist or a company in your area directly. Some offer an activity in addition to the show.
To get comparable proposals, send everyone the same brief: date, venue, number of people, children’s ages and preferred length. Then compare each quote on the same points. The lowest quote doesn’t always work out cheapest: if an artist brings neither sound nor lighting, you’ll have to hire them.
- Length of the show and set-up time.
- Equipment supplied by the artist and what you need to provide.
- Travel costs and accommodation, often charged on top.
- Cancellation terms, useful if the date changes.
Ask for a video or recent references before signing.
Tip: compare at least 2 or 3 offers before committing.
4. Prepare the venue and technical requirements
A village hall, a community hall or a sports hall will suit most Christmas events. For a council-owned hall, contact your local council. Ask for the artist’s technical rider and compare it with the venue you’ve chosen. The usual technical points are as follows.
- Stage area: floor space, ceiling height, access for equipment.
- Power: number of sockets and available power supply.
- Sound: supplied by the artist or by the venue.
- Blackout and lighting: some acts need a darkened room.
- Accessibility: access for pushchairs and people with reduced mobility.
Tip: visit the venue before signing, with the artist’s technical rider in hand.
5. Make organising your Christmas show easier with WeezTicket
Setting up online ticketing lets you centralise your audience’s details and track bookings from a single tool, whether your event is free or paid.
WeezTicket offers several useful features for charities, schools, businesses, local authorities and other Christmas show organisers:
- Free ticketing for free shows: manage bookings at no cost and get a clearer idea of numbers.
- Online donations: give attendees the option to add a donation when they book, to support the charity, school or organisation benefiting from your Christmas show.
- Multi-event module: running several performances? Group them on one page so your audience can find your programme more easily.
- On-site sales: show not sold out on the day? Keep selling tickets on site and keep track of these alongside your online sales.
- Capacity and time slot management: create different time slots and limit the number of places in each to spread your audience and respect the venue’s capacity.
- Booking forms: collect only the information you need (number of children, accessibility needs, etc.) with custom fields tailored to your show.
- Custom mini-site: create a page with your programme, visuals, practical information (venue, times, access), show description and ticketing, then simply share the link on your social media.
- WeezAccess app: on the day, your team can scan tickets straight from a smartphone and record arrivals without paper lists.
“We’re supporting more and more charities and local councils that put on Christmas shows, sometimes with several performances on the same day. One of the challenges is helping families quickly find the practical information (times, venue, access, prices) without having to ask for it.
For this type of event, the WeezTicket custom mini-site is particularly handy. It brings the programme, practical information and ticketing together on a single page, which you can share with a link or embed on your website with a few lines of code.
Last December, we helped an organiser set one up for their show. Families could book straight from the page and find all the information they needed in one place. Without it, that information would have had to be passed on by message or phone, with a risk of error at every step.” Clément, Client Service at Weezevent.
6. Create a countdown timeline and stick to it
To create your timeline, start from the date of the show, or of the children’s Christmas party, and work backwards.
- 3 months before: Set the budget, capacity and date
- 2 months before: Request quotes, book the venue and sign with the artist
- 6 weeks before: Open registrations
- 3 weeks before: Approve the technical rider and order the presents
- 1 week before: Confirm the number of attendees and send out the address and time
- On the day: Welcome guests, scan tickets and hand out the presents
7. Plan for the unexpected
Always have a plan B. Ask the artist for a contact who can be reached on the day, and keep the details of a back-up performer in case your first choice drops out. At the venue, a backup power supply avoids a total blackout mid-show, and a fallback space absorbs a delay without leaving children waiting in the corridor. If the time changes, let families know by email as soon as possible.
Discover all our solutions to help you organise your Christmas show: online ticketing, access control and CRM and marketing tools!
FAQ
Q: When should you start organising a Christmas show?
Start making arrangements at least 3 months in advance. Venues and artists get booked up from September. First set the date and venue, then ask each artist for a quote. Plan a fallback date, for example the previous weekend. Booking a Christmas event early also gives you time to open registrations without pressure.
Q: Which show works best for which age group?
The type of show depends on age and attention span. A 30 to 45-minute show suits the youngest children, while older children can follow a longer format. To bring all age groups together, a magic or puppet show with animals appeals to children and adults alike. Musical shows need more equipment, and therefore more space.
Q: How do you set the budget for a Christmas show?
A project like this doesn’t necessarily need a large budget. Jot down your costs before contacting artists: fee, venue hire, insurance, travel and snacks. Compare detailed quotes so you get equivalent offers. If music will be played, check which licence you need from the body that manages music rights, such as PPL PRS (TheMusicLicence) in the UK.
Q: Agency or direct booking: which should you choose?
Both options work. An agency offers several artists and handles contracts and logistics, but adds a mark-up. Contacting an artist directly costs less and gives you more freedom, provided you coordinate everything yourself. Either way, ask for recent references from children’s events.
Q: What activities can you plan alongside the show?
A short activity before or after the performance extends the experience without adding to the logistics. A decorating workshop, face painting or a photo with Father Christmas keeps families busy while they wait. The simplest formats are often the most effective.
